Chapter 2379: Chapter 2380: Substitution

After listening to Ferro’s narration, Angel’s expression was not so optimistic: "This method could work, but the process of accumulating the fireball and deceiving the mechanical head’s perceptions isn’t that easy."

In Ferro’s plan, Angel controls the fake "Ferro" to hold off the mechanical head, while he secretly accumulates the fireball cluster within the illusionary realm. Once it’s ready, he uses the flame spell, catching the mechanical head by surprise, and then concludes it.

Everything seems reasonable, but to achieve it perfectly, one must be extremely fortunate.

Firstly, the fake "Ferro" must hold off the mechanical head for a minute without being discovered. This likelihood is relatively low because with the dense barrage similar to washing the ground with water bullets, illusions can’t use flame spells and will likely alert the mechanical head to the false nature of the illusion.

Secondly, Ferro must be stealthy during the accumulation of twenty-five fireball clusters.

This is still very difficult to achieve because the flame spell isn’t an ordinary flame spell. It involves the fire vein.

Angel himself isn’t confident in using illusion techniques to conceal the fluctuations of the fire vein... After all, this already involves the power of laws, and Angel has never perceived the fire vein before.

Even if he really managed to use illusion techniques to cover up the fluctuations, it would likely require a significant number of illusion nodes. By then, the mechanical head might not have detected the fire vein, but there’s a good chance it would notice the illusion’s fluctuations.

Thirdly, the effective range of Ferro’s flame spell isn’t large. To unexpectedly trap the opponent, it must be released at close range. Once they get closer, it becomes easier to be prematurely exposed.

So, although Ferro’s plan seems perfect, there are many potential flaws in the middle.

Nis also understood Angel’s point. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "You’re right, but we don’t have any other options unless the two of us expose ourselves to directly constrain that hunk of metal."

"But if we expose ourselves, that hunk of metal will likely swiftly merge into the water ripples. Moreover, I believe someone is definitely controlling this hunk of metal from behind. If they see us, they will surely come up with a counter plan."

Therefore, currently, it’s best that neither of them reveals themselves. Just push Ferro to the front stage, while they hide as secret weapons until the appropriate time to make their entrance.

Nis: "Actually, we shouldn’t think too much. Maybe the heavens are on our side."

After saying this, Nis turned his gaze towards Reynaud, the implication was clear.

The favored child of fortune, John’s counterattack!

With him here, Ferro’s flawed plan might actually become fortunate enough to succeed.

Angel also understood Nis’s hint. He had considered Reynaud, this lucky charm, but after thinking it over carefully, he still felt it wasn’t quite right.

Reynaud is indeed fortunate, but his luck seems to be solely directed at him alone. For Ferro’s plan this time, Reynaud is equivalent to a mere spectator, with no active participation at all. Would his luck really extend to Ferro because of this?

Nis: "Then what do you suggest we do?"

Angel paused for two seconds, remained silent, and instead raised his head to look at the distant fake "Ferro" still dodging the water bullets.

The mechanical head’s water bullets continued to shower down like rain, but the density was less concentrated, allowing "Ferro" more room to dodge.

At first glance, this seemed like a good thing, but Angel didn’t think so.

If the mechanical head were still focusing its attacks on the fake "Ferro", it would mean it hadn’t discovered "Ferro" was fake. But as it began to lower density and expand the attack range, it showed it was already suspecting "Ferro".

Once the mechanical head confirms "Ferro" is fake, regardless of whether it guesses it’s an outsider’s involvement, its mode of response will accordingly change.

This is unfavorable to them.

"That mechanical head seems to be testing if Ferro is fake." The people present weren’t stupid, even Nausicaa realized the mechanical head’s change.

Nis also nodded, pondering, "Yes."

"So what do we do now?" Reynaud asked.

Nis rolled his eyes at Reynaud, "I was about to ask you what to do. Isn’t that hunk of metal from your lab? Why do you look so clueless?"

Reynaud awkwardly tapped his cheek, "I didn’t know the lab had this thing, or maybe I did... but I forgot?"

While Nis and Reynaud conversed, Angel gazed into the distance, murmuring to himself, "If only my illusions could cast real flame spells..."

Nis’s eyes lit up, "Exactly, if your illusions could cast real flame capabilities, it should fool that metal hunk. Plus, the denser the surrounding flame aura, the more it could obscure Ferro’s flame spell fluctuations, allowing the plan to proceed, achieving two goals!"

Angel: "...Unfortunately, I can’t unleash flame capabilities."

Angel isn’t completely incapable of flame spells, as an Alchemist, he has profound research in fire elements, but his flame techniques are more about support rather than attack, entirely unsuitable for this battle.

Most importantly, Angel’s level of fire control isn’t high. If he used it, it would likely immediately alert the opponent.

"I’m not good at it either," Nis said dejectedly.

Just when the atmosphere felt heavy, a voice suddenly reached everyone’s ears.

"Flame abilities, I can do it!"

Looking back, it was Dangross, hanging on the Blood Night Shelter, who had spoken.

Everyone was initially stunned, but soon, they seemed to understand something and looked at Dangross’s eyes, slowly lighting up.

...

"Go on!" Nis said to Dangross, "It’s up to you to shine today."

Dangross was still a bit bewildered, it didn’t expect that casually responding would lead to suddenly being pulled onto the stage?

This is really watching as the stage suddenly came to its feet.

"I, I..." Dangross glanced fearfully back at Angel, then at Toby.

Angel hesitated for a moment and patted Dangross, "If you’re unwilling, we have other plans, you can choose to refuse, no one will blame you."

Although Angel had a certain plan to ensure Dangross’s safety as much as possible, nothing is absolute, and risks still exist, especially in the initial few seconds when Dangross replaces the illusion, the risk factor is extremely high.

If Dangross refused, Angel would understand and respect its choice. After all, Dangross isn’t their pet, it has no reason to take such a big risk for them.

Angel thought after saying this, Dangross would choose to retreat, but to his surprise, Dangross didn’t back down. Instead, it made a decision and even brought up conditions to Angel.

"I agree. But after it’s over, you have to answer a question for me."

Angel: "What question?"

Dangross hummed twice, "I’ll tell you then."

"Alright." After thinking for a moment, Angel nodded. Given Dangross’s insight, the question raised shouldn’t be too difficult.

Due to the urgency of time, seeing the robot’s suspicion towards the fake "Ferro" growing, Angel didn’t waste words and directly said to Dangross:

"In a moment, I will control that side’s ’Ferro’ to fully elementalize, then create a steam fog. At that time, you will directly transform into the flaming ’Ferro’, using the fog as a cover, to replace the illusion over there." Angel: "Do you understand?"

Dangross earnestly bowed its palm, which meant a nod of agreement.

"The few seconds after replacement are the most critical and dangerous. You need to quickly release flames to counter the incoming water bullets."

"Once its attention is drawn to you, pretend to use Flame Summoning. At that moment, I will have Earl Mi transform into a summoned creature to protect you."

With Earl Mi’s protection at that time, Dangross would be much safer.

Moreover, Earl Mi can also assist Dangross, expanding the flame space, filling the area with fire elements, providing cover for Ferro’s flame spell.

In other words, Dangross is overt, while Earl Mi is covert.

This is the complete plan. When devising this scheme, Angel actually considered letting Earl Mi replace the illusion, but Earl Mi’s Panic Realm energy was too obvious, making it easy to expose. Dangross’s fire is more pure and is better suited to portray "Ferro."

After quickly outlining the key points, Angel immediately began controlling the distant "Ferro" illusion to enter elementalization.

Only by letting "Ferro" enter the elemental state can Dangross portray smoothly. Otherwise, the real person and elemental creature are pretty much distinguishable at a glance.

The distant "Ferro" roared angrily at the robot head: "Damn it, I’m going to melt you, you hunk of iron!"

With those words, the fireball cluster around "Ferro" all merged into his body.

His skin looked as if it had been coated with a light film, with the flickering glow of flames sliding around. In an instant, the fiery current covered his entire body.

The next second, his physical body transformed into an energy state! Transformed into a blazing person of flames! — At least to the naked eye, it looked like that.

At the moment the flaming person was born, a hissing sound started around, with white steam swirling around the flaming person, looking as if high temperatures had vaporized the surrounding dew. But in reality, it was an illusion simulated by Angel through illusion node techniques.

As the white steam rolled more vigorously, Angel turned to Dangross: "Go!"

Dangross did not hesitate, utilizing the momentum to leap directly out, using the white mist for cover, rushing to "Ferro" at the fastest speed.

Then, under the cover of the mist, Dangross controlled its inner flames to transform into Ferro’s image, directly replacing the illusion created by Angel.

At this point, the exchange was complete.

Next, what needs to be done is to create a commotion with real flames to attract the robot’s attention.

Dangross did not falter, releasing the flames that had been stored for years.

Under Dangross’s control, these flames transformed into an expanse of continuous fiery red cloud, directly meeting the scattered water bullets.

Constant hissing sounds were heard, white steam rising, and the hot wind immediately filled the scene.

This wasn’t over yet, as the continuous flame clouds were not entirely extinguished by the dispersed water bullets, and the remaining flames began to rise and transform, forming streaks of crimson streaks, charging towards the robot head.

The robot head obviously hesitated for a moment.

Perhaps because the previous "Ferro" had always been dodging, rarely directly attacking, this sudden aggressive attack caught it off guard.

While it was in a daze, a crimson streak waved at the bubble around it, and the scorching flames shrunk the bubble considerably.

The high temperature of the flame transmitted through the bubble, startling the robot head back to its senses amidst the vibration.

It focused its gaze on the "Ferro" below, gathering a large number of water bullets and attacking Ferro.

This time, the water bullets were no longer scattered!

This means that the robot head refocused its attention on "Ferro"!

This step of the plan was again successful, but Angel was not completely relieved, as the most dangerous moment was now.

Dangross must withstand this wave of water bullets.

At least, withstand the first half.

Facing the dense water bullets, Dangross did not evade. Instead, it raised a hand, pressing its index and middle fingers together beneath its lips, its cheeks ballooning like a ball, and made a sudden puffing gesture.

A large amount of flame spewed from its mouth, spreading into mid-air.

This time, the formed fire cloud was even larger than before, spreading tens of meters wide!

As numerous water bullets fell onto the fire cloud, they were all evaporated, although the fire cloud was also diminishing, the rate of reduction was slow enough to withstand the first wave of water bullets.

As the water bullets collided head-on with the fire cloud, Dangross began its "performance."

It assumed a strange posture, drawing an unusual flaming symbol in mid-air, which emitted a radiant glow upon appearance.

As the glow flickered, a creature emitting firelight slowly emerged from the symbol.

To those unaware, this fiery creature was some kind of flame ability of Ferro’s, a summoned creature.

In reality, it was Earl Mi, who had been waiting underground all along!

Through Dangross’s "performance," this awakened panic realm demon people, concealing its energy, made a gentle appearance...

On the other side, Angel felt a weight lifted off his shoulders when Earl Mi appeared.

Previously, he had been somewhat worried that Dangross wouldn’t withstand that wave of water bullets, since the dense volley was comparable to an official spell, and Dangross hadn’t reached the Official Wizard Level. In such circumstances, Angel had even prepared to have Earl Mi appear early to protect Dangross.

Unexpectedly, Dangross actually managed to hold its own.

This made Angel regard Dangross with newfound respect.

It was just an elemental sprite, but its demonstrated quality was probably among the best in the entire Fire Territory.

Angel inwardly praised it without overthinking, then turned to the real Ferro: "Begin, now that the flame power has spread over here, you can start accumulating fireball clusters without being noticed by that robot head."

Ferro nodded, took a deep breath, and without hesitation, immediately began the accumulation of "Flame Spell Ground."

As clusters of flames emerged around Ferro, an odd faint pulsation began to float gently.

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